Tag: debt

There are two words that can rock people with regret. Just ask them about their “student loans.” Then watch their faces. They will wince as they disclose how much education debt they’re carrying. Politicians have been promising to fix the growing loan crisis for years, but outstanding student debt has now mushroomed to $1.4 trillion. Meanwhile, a college degree has become out of reach for so many — unless they’re willing to go deep into debt. But Steve Klinsky, founder and chief executive of the private equity firm New Mountain…

Private scholarships are awarded on the basis of merit and need. For example, students might be eligible if they have a particular skill, live in a certain area or are working toward a specific major. Private scholarship awards can range from as little as a few hundred to thousands of dollars. For many students, they’re an important piece of the equation to cover the total cost of college, from tuition and fees to room and board, books, transportation and miscellaneous items. A downside of private scholarships, though, is that at…

With the media’s focus on the Inauguration and the new president’s first week in office, a recent Wall Street Journal report has gone little noticed. According to the report, on January 13 (just one week before the outgoing administration up and went), the Obama Department of Education dropped a memorandum confessing that it had “overstated student loan repayment rates at most colleges and trade schools.” The “updated numbers” provided by the Department were analyzed by the Journal’s staff, who found that the new data “revealed that the Department previously had…

It’s tough being a student these days. Debt levels are reaching crisis proportions in many developed countries, the World Bank says. And in many developing countries, aspiring students can’t get finance at all. In the US, where private funding is the norm, $1.3 trillion (£1tn) in education loans is outstanding. In the UK, the government-backed student debt burden is nearly £90bn. And trying to find the best way to finance your university or postgraduate education can be a confusing business. “I remember feeling overwhelmed by some competitor lenders,” says Alex…

THE ISSUE: More Americans are getting buried by student debt — causing delays in home ownership, limiting how much people can save and leaving taxpayers at risk as many loans go unpaid. The statistics look daunting. Student debt now totals around $1.26 trillion. This amounts to a stunning 350 percent increase since 2005, according to the New York Federal Reserve. Not everyone sees that surge as troubling. President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers issued a report this year saying that the debt is beneficial because college graduates earn more…